I was watching Al Gore promote his new book on television (yes I still watch it), and it got me to thinking about the current trend of moving toward decentralization.

He was speaking of alternative sources of energy and used as an example the possibility of creating a “super grid” of solar cell panels to provide electricity. According to Al, the earth receives enough energy from the sun within a short length of time (I think he said “a day”) to satisfy the needs of the world for a year. And that the science is at a point where it could happen. And that the obstacle to all of this is the companies who make their profit from our traditional energy sources.

A friend of mine, Ted Hatfield, is preparing to bulldoze his property in order to build a new home in its place that will be energy self-sufficient. His will be the model that his company will use to install these types of systems into new homes. He’s got it figured out. No more dependence on Georgia Power for electricity.

A small percentage of the country who live in the sunny areas of the country like Arizona and southern California have done this same thing. I know that right now the conversion rate for energy from one of those solar panels is ridiculously low. But that will change. So, if the trend continues and science makes it possible for the homeowner to own a home that doesn’t need outside assistance for electricity, that means no dependence on a central provider for electricity. We all have our little energy independent houses.

So it may be possible to extend the catastrophic events that have happened to our music industry to other industries who have depended on a centralized structure of distribution. My head hurts just thinking about it….